As electronic payments (tap to pay) rise rapidly, life will become harder for people who rely on cash to survive, such as homeless people, vendors, and street performers.
This was confirmed by homeless people in New York themselves to The New York Times, while activist groups report that something similar is happening in London, where cash use has decreased even more than in New York.
In the US, the share of people who do not have cash on them doubled from 2015 to 2022, while some shops do not even accept cash payments in New York and London.
Mainly wealthier people make only tap-to-pay or online purchases, according to a Pew Research study.
In 2020, New York City banned businesses from refusing cash payments. Many shops did not comply immediately, of course, and this phenomenon is observed to this day.
With the rise of tap-to-pay apps and digital payments, many people now carry less cash, especially wealthier Americans. According to a Pew Research survey for 2022, about 60% of adults with a household income of at least $100,000 stated that none of their purchases in a typical week is paid with cash, in contrast to 24% of those who earn less than $30,000.
Meanwhile, seeing this trend, street musicians and small vendors are also installing tap-to-pay systems themselves.
